At 6 p.m. on Wednesday, the Pac-12 Conference will turn on its much-anticipated television networks and instantaneously transform the viewing experience for fans of a league that has long wallowed in the broadcasting shadows.

Based in San Francisco, the networks will ensure that all Pac-12 football and men’s basketball games are broadcast live and provide unprecedented exposure for the league’s world-class Olympic sports.

Four major cable companies, including Comcast in the Bay Area, are among dozens of providers that have agreed to air the networks, which consist of one national feed and six regional feeds – one for each area of the conference.

“We’ve got great content and great distribution with some of the most powerful companies,’’ said Gary Stevenson, the president of Pac-12 Enterprises, which oversees the television networks. “Those are two big checks.’’

The Pac-12 isn’t the first college conference to have a dedicate television network. The Big Ten’s version went live in 2007 and has been a resounding success. Co-owned by Fox, it reportedly distributes approximately $8 million per year to its schools.

But the Pac-12 Networks, with their seven feeds, are unprecedented in scope, complexity and control of the content:

*** The Big Ten Network had 20 million subscribers at launch. The Pac-12 won’t release its total but has already signed carriage agreements with cable companies capable of reaching 48 million homes.

*** The Pac-12 Networks are wholly owned by the conference, creating the possibility for a huge financial windfall down the road.

Industry sources estimate the networks could distribute $10 million per year per school in a few years, when distribution and advertising are fully ramped.

*** The Pac-12 Networks will air 850 live events during the 2012-13 school year, including Stanford’s football opener against San Jose State and Cal’s mid-September showdown against USC.

Every football and men’s basketball game not broadcast by ESPN or Fox will be shown live on the Pac-12 Networks – with all but a handful beamed nationally.

“It’s going to be awesome,’’ Stanford football coach David Shaw said. “We’ve been fortunate the last couple years to have a lot of national games. Now every game will be national. Recruits will be able to see every game.’’

At this point, the Pac-12 Networks don’t have carriage agreements with either of the major satellite operators, DirecTV or Dish Network. But negotiations are ongoing and commissioner Larry Scott is optimistic a deal will be struck with at least one of the satellite carriers.

Media industry sources believe DirecTV, with its reliance on sports programming, is far more likely than Dish to come to terms.

“We’ve got quantity and quality,’’ Scott said. “We wanted the networks to have premium content, and we had a clear view of how to attain that.’’

Scott didn’t plan to create a dedicated television network when he took charge of the conference in 2009. But he eventually became convinced it would be the best way to increase exposure for Olympic sport athletes and to serve fans frustrated by holes in the league’s longstanding TV deals.

(Last year alone, five Pac-12 football games and 90 men’s basketball games weren’t televised anywhere.)

Scott’s masterstroke came in the spring of 2011, when the league signed long-term deals with ESPN and Fox. In addition to collecting $3 billion – it was the richest TV deal ever signed by a college conference – Scott retained the rights to 35 football games, thereby guaranteeing in-demand content for the not-yet-announced network.

He dangled that content in front of Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox and Bright House and got them to partner on the Pac-12 Networks.

Then Scott used the up-front cash received from the league’s media deals to fund the start-up costs of the networks, believed to be between $50 – $100 million.

The schools weren’t on the hook for a dime.

“The networks will be self-supporting,’’ Scott said.

And because of the financial cushion provided by the ESPN and Fox deals – each Pac-12 school will receive an average of $21 million per year for 12 years – the conference could create the networks it wanted, not the networks it needed.

Jon Wilner

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I know Direct TV is the focus regarding reporting, but sure would like to hear more about Verizon FIOS for Los Angeles. Nearly everyone I know is a FIOS customer, need to get a carriage deal done soon.

There is virtually no chance of getting a deal done with DISH because “Cheap Charlie” Ergen is a one-of-a-kind eccentric in the pay TV world. He would sign “PAC-12 Deportes” in a heart beat if such a channel were to exist, but not PAC-12 Networks.

TD

I agree with OT and that deals must be done by September 21st with those providers who are not aboard. These new networks will succeed because of the business model the Pac 12 has established; regional networks (depending what Pac 12 area you live in) and a national network. The Pac 12 has said the amount providers will have to pay will be modest (at least in the beginning), so any cost to customers will not create a frenzy of outrage of the added expense to their monthly bill. The 4 remaining major providers should understand that Pac-12 sports will have more interest in areas where there are Pac 12 schools than say, those of the Big 10 Network that are already on their channel lineups. My local cable provider, Charter Communications, is one of the Los Angeles area major cable providers (Other cable providers such as Time Warner, Verizon FiOS and AT&T U-Verse serve the remaining surrounding areas). Charter has always said they will offer their local customers the best in programming and local sports at rates that are fair and reasonable in their cost to carry them and to the customer who will be paying for it on a monthly basis. It maybe that Charter has yet to have a deal because of an impasse regarding the future cost involved in such an agreement. This is usually the case whenever a provider is not on board at the launch of a new network; sports or commercial. This maybe the same situation regarding the other 3 majors. But, we should remember that each company has a different business model and their agenda of what’s fair is different than that of their competition. In the end, I really believe Charter and the others (not sure about DirecTV and yes, forget Dish) will have a deal done by mid September or maybe sooner depending on the carriage negotiations that are still ongoing as of today.

TD

UPDATE: Just as I had thought in my above post, has been confirmed by Charter representative Emily Klipfel on today’s postings on Charter’s Facebook page.

“Charter is interested in providing the PAC-12 Network to our customers, but only if the cost of the service to Charter and subsequently our customers is consistent with agreements PAC-12 Network has with other video providers of similar size as Charter. We are hopeful that our negotiations with PAC-12 Network will result in more reasonable terms and provide Charter customers with value”.

As Charter customers who live in Pac-12 areas, we WANT our Pac-12 Networks !! We understand your concern if for example a smaller cable provider is paying less in their carriage arrangement with the Pac-12. Charter you have a responsibility to work out an arrangement that will be fair in costs and allow you to keep your commitment to local areas that you service within Pac-12 areas to add these networks to our channel lineups. As of this wring, you still have a few days to show us that you care in doing so. But, PLEASE do not drag this on for months !! Just remember, there have been a number of requests and our voices will keep shouting until you get this deal done soon !!

JMod

DirecTV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OT

DIRECTV has pre-assigned Channel 626 to PAC-12 Network-National.

626 just happens to be the telephone Area Code that serves the Rose Bowl.

oldunc

With a low level cable sports package, I am generally able to get at least 3 men’s basketball and a dozen football games- at midnight in July- so this isn’t that exciting. Hopefully, they’ll show something else too.

http://onlinesatellitetv.us ej

I think this is a great move. I personally am a Big 10 fan and have been enjoying their network.